Professor Henrique António D'assumpção AO

Vol. 34. No. 1 A Publication of UMA, Inc Jan - Mar 2011 Editor: Daniel Gomes, 4394 N. Sweetbriar Ct, Concord, Ca 94521 E-Mail: [email protected] Professor Henrique António d’Assumpção AO By his good friend Bosco Correa Emeritus Professor Henrique António d’Assumpção known professionally as Henry and better known amongst his old friends as Quito is the second son of Bernadino (Riri) and Alzira d’Assumpção. He was born in Macau in 1934 and was taken to Hong Kong by his parents soon after his birth. He started his schooling at Maryknoll Convent School in Kowloontong in about 1939. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941-1945) he and his family, like so many other Portuguese from Hong Kong, found refuge in Macau where he attended Escola Central. After the liberation of Hong Kong by the British in 1945 his family returned to the British Colony and he rejoined Maryknoll Convent School. In 1946 he entered La Salle College also in Kowloontong, where he studied until 1948 when his parents sent him to boarding school at Sacred Heart College in Adelaide, joining his elder brother Carlos who was already studying there. Upon completing his education at Sacred Heart College where he was Dux of the College, Quito entered the University of Adelaide in 1952 where he obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (1 st Class Honours) in 1956. In 1962 he obtained his Master’s degree in Engineering. He joined the Weapons Research Establishment in Salisbury, South Australia in 1956 and in 1958-9 was seconded as Scientific Officer to work on radar with the Royal Radar Establishment in the UK. He returned to Australia working as scientist in underwater acoustics, signal processing and electronic warfare in the Australian Department of Defence. He rose to become the Chief Defence Scientist of the Australian Department of Defence and head of the Defence Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) in Canberra. The DSTO which he directed from 1987-1990 had a staff of 4400 personnel with some 1000 of them scientists and engineers. During his tenure with the DSTO he was the co-inventor of the “Barra” sonobuoy antisubmarine system which was jointly developed by Australia and the UK and which has been in use for over 30 years by the RAAF and RAF. He is acknowledged as “Father of Barra” and was presented by the industry with the 100,000 th component of this sonobuoy in 1985. The “Barra” project created some AUD500 million in industry contracts in Australia alone. He was also involved in the management of many other defence science developments and served as the Australian Principal of International defence science bodies. UMA NEWS BULLETIN – Spring Issue 2011 Page 1 of 36 Emeritus Professor d’Assumpção In 1991 he returned to Adelaide to take up the post of Professor of Signal Processing at the University of South Australia. He was a member of the International Advisory Panel to the Singapore Government in 1997-1998. He was appointed Emeritus Professor on his retirement from the University in 2000. He then served as Chief Scientific Adviser to the Australian Customs Service and on a number of ministerially appointed committees. In 1981 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. The Institution of Engineers Australia elected him an Honorary Fellow in 1993 and awarded him the MA Sargent Medal in 2003. The DSTO honoured him in 1997 when they named the library in their large establishment at Edinburgh in South Australia the “Henry d’Assumpção Library”. Quito was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 1992 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to science and technology, and he was a recipient of the Australian Centenary Medal in 2001. In 2000 was made a Chevalier in the Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitallers) and in 2009 a Knight Commander of this order. After his retirement Quito commenced his project of establishing his “Macanese Family” data-bank which he is totally committed to. He has incorporated all the family data from the three volumes of “Famílias Macaenses” by the Portuguese genealogist Jorge Forjaz into his data-bank which now has over 47,000 people entered. He has laboriously researched and collected additional data on Macanese families and has now also included nicknames, individual honours, photographs, pictures, maps, historical facts, news clippings, anecdotes, music, library, Macanese recipes, patuá and much more to it. To say the least it is a massive undertaking which he is magnificently carrying out. His work is not solely for the benefit of the present generation but for the generations to follow. It is a great source for researching Macanese genealogy, family history and ties. It is also an interesting link to Macanese history, heritage and culture. He has done great service to the Macanese community worldwide with his dedicated work. Quito is married to Colleen Marie Symons and they have two daughters Anne Therese and Louise Alina and two sons Marcus Peter and Paul Henry and 14 grandchildren. _____________________________________________________ Editor’s Note: The Sonobuoy is dropped from an aircraft into the sea. Part of it sinks and unfolds into an array of hydrophones (underwater microphones). The hydrophones listens for the sounds made by submarines. The array is connected to a radio transmitter in a buoy floating on the surface. The aircraft collects the signals from several Sonobuoys, analyze the information to pinpoint the sub's location and decide whether it is friendly or not. UMA NEWS BULLETIN – Spring Issue 2011 Page 2 of 36 By Daniel Gomes “Macau was the miracle of the time” - the territory’s neutrality was the miracle and continues to be a mystery. It is not sufficient to say that Macau’s neutrality was the direct result of the diplomatic powers of Governor Gabriel Teixeira and the brilliant negotiating skills of the strong man of Macau, Pedro Jose Lobo. All their negotiating powers could not stop the Japanese from invading Timor and interning all the Portuguese citizens in Timor. This was a horrible time for the Timorese people - food, housing, education, medical services, freedom were all denied them. We in Macau were spared all this suffering. As war raged all over Asia, Macau proclaimed the Immaculate Conception as its patron saint on December 8, 1942 entrusting its destiny to her. The storm of war passed by and the city was spared. Many residents consider this “the miracle that saved Macau”. The evolution of the Second Sino-Japanese war in 1937 and the great expansion threat posed by the Japanese, resulted in the Australian Government’s anticipation of control of Timor by the Japanese and they negotiated a direct commercial air link from Dili to Darwin, with assurances that the Japanese would not be allowed to construct an air base on the eastern side of the island. In April 1940 “ the Japanese Government requested the cancellation of all concessions given to Australia and threatened to cause problems in the Portuguese colony of Macau if Portugal did not accede to the Japanese request”. Simultaneously, the Japanese reinforced their economic presence in Timor and again raised threats to the government in Lisbon. As the war raged on in the Far East, the government in Lisbon acceded to the greater involvement of Tokyo in the Timorese economy to safeguard the neutrality of Macau. This was one of the most complicated periods in the history of Macau. Macau remained neutral under the flag of Portugal, but the Japanese Kempentai (police) operated in Macau with almost the same authority as the Portuguese police. The day following the Japanese attack on the British Colony of Hong Kong, The Governor of Macau stated, “ This geographic place that is Macau is remarkable for its tranquility from the ravages that extend right through the Far East and its effects are impossible to neglect and it is impossible to dismiss the heartfelt pleas of our Portuguese brethren and declared that it is his desire to assist the Portuguese refugees......... All Portuguese refugees, regardless of their citizenship , were given a line of credit of 4,500 patacas whilst the city was being divided into zones that would guarantee the most efficient accommodation, feeding and medical assistance for all those who would arrive.” UMA NEWS BULLETIN – Spring Issue 2011 Page 3 of 36 Wartime Macau Macau immediately remitted 25 thousand patacas to assist the Portuguese community in Hong Kong and placed two steamships at the disposition of the refugees. Many of the refugees from Hong Kong were Portuguese Citizens so Governor Teixeira could legitimately offer them the protection of the Portuguese flag since Portugal was neutral, however many of the Macanese from Hong Kong were British subjects so the Portuguese government could not offer them direct help since that would violate the terms of neutrality which was vital to the survival of Macau. Governor Teixeira convinced the British Consul John Reeves to accept responsibility for the care of the Macanese who were British subjects, so John Reeves provided a subsidy to all British Subjects living in Macau. This “unnatural alliance” was accepted by the Japanese even though Tokyo was well aware that there were several Anglo-American networks which operated out of Macau. These networks not only provided valuable information to the Allies on Japanese military land and sea movements in the area but also coordinated sabotage against military targets in the coastal region of southern China. The eastern shoreline of the South China Sea is very jagged and full of coves where one could hide during the day and sail during the dark nights.

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